Abstract
Curcumin (Cur) has been widely used in medicine, due to its antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antitumor effects. However, its clinic application is limited by its instability and poor solubility. In the present wok, curcumin was loaded into solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs), in order to improve the therapeutic efficacy for breast cancer. The results measured using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) indicated that Cur-SLNs have a well-defined spherical shape; the size was about 40 nm with a negative surface charge. The drug loading and encapsulation efficiency in SLNs reached 23.38% and 72.47%, respectively. The Cur-SLNs showed a stronger cytotoxicity against SKBR3 cells. In vitro cellular uptake study demonstrated a high uptake efficiency of the Cur-SLNs by SKBR3 cells. Moreover, Cur-SLNs induced higher apoptosis in SKBR3 cells, compared to cells treated by free drug. In addition, Western blot analysis revealed that Cur-SLNs could promote the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2, but decreased the expression of cyclin D1 and CDK4. These results suggested that Cur-SLNs could be a potential useful chemotherapeutic formulation for breast cancer therapy.
Highlights
Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in women in the world [1]
Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies were carried out to evaluate the morphology of the Cur-solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs)
The in vitro cytotoxic activity of curcumin, and Cur-SLNs on SKBR3 cancer cells was investigated investigated by sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay
Summary
Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in women in the world [1]. The rate of breast cancer incidence is increasing rapidly because of the changes in multiple environmental, hormonal, and lifestyle risk factors [2,3,4]. Recent development of drug delivery systems, such as nanocarriers, is gaining increasing attention, due to its ability to improve the anticancer properties of various small molecules. SLNs have been reported to modulate release kinetics, improve blood circulation time, and increase overall therapeutic efficacy of anticancer drugs [14,15]. We primarily aimed to prepare SLNs to effectively deliver curcumin to treat breast cancer. For this purpose, curcumin-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles (Cur-SLNs) were prepared and characterized in terms of morphology, particle size and zeta potential. The anticancer effect of free curcumin and Cur-SLNs was investigated in SKBR3 cancer cells. This study indicates that Cur-SLNs could be a potential useful chemotherapeutic formulation for breast cancer therapy
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